Loosely Connected
From what we've heard up to now, it sounds like the production process went pretty smoothly. But in reality, that wasn't the case, right?
Right. In the middle of development, we decided to make it compatible with online play, so we had a "mass construction" to change the main character into an avatar12 and rewrite some of the story to match with the content. 12. Avatar: The main character of the game and a digital representation of the player. In Xenoblade Chronicles X, users can freely customize the character's gender, facial features, body size, skin features (skin tone, freckles, cheeks, scars, and moles), hairstyle and hair color, eye shape and color, make-up (eye shadow and lip color, face paint), and even their voice.
A "mass construction" right in the middle of development...so how did you end up deciding to add online?
I believe that RPGs in general are made to play alone. But this time, we felt that playing all alone in an open-world environment might feel a bit lonely.
This time especially, with the large world and the many hours players can play through the game.
Right. So, to make the atmosphere of the world livelier, we thought that it would be better to add an online mode so players can feel connected. However, we had to take into consideration that there might be players who are scared to communicate with other players. I'm actually afraid to do so myself! (laughs)
Actually, me too! (laughs) I'm afraid of other players scolding me if I play poorly.
So we decided to focus on creating an online RPG where players will be "loosely connected," and not feel afraid to play. Kojima-san especially put a lot of thought into the "loosely connected" aspect.
"Loosely connected" online game?
That's right.
But...Kojima-san doesn't look like someone that's afraid to connect with strangers! (laughs)
(laughs)
Actually, Kojima-san is very sensitive.
Yes, I'm actually sensitive! (laughs)
(laughs) Many people play online, so there is also a small number of players who enjoy harassing other people. To avoid these kinds of players, there are people who don't play online games at all.
That's right. It's unpleasant to meet mean players online, but on the other hand, there are times it feels too troublesome to communicate with players with good intentions, too.
Even if the player has good intentions, it can still feel overbearing. Every player has a different feeling towards how they want to interact with others.
But even if you play alone to avoid the trouble, it can still feel very lonely. (laughs)
It's a pain to communicate with others, but it's lonely to play alone...I guess people can't decide one or the other. (laughs)
Yes. It sounds selfish, doesn't it? (laughs) From personal experience, before I went into the game industry, I suddenly felt lonely playing video games by myself at home while the family was out. It made me think, "Should I really be playing video games right now?"(laughs)
Even someone like you who love video games so much had felt that way?! (laughs)
However, when my family was in the living room next to the room I was in, feeling their presence in another room made me feel at ease. I wanted to somehow recreate that feeling of relief in the online experience.
I see, so that experience is the basis of this game's online feature.
So, we focused on creating an online experience where players won't directly interact with each other, but can feel the presence of other people playing the same game.
Ah, so that's what you mean by "loosely connected" with other players.
Correct. Also, as there are many elements in Takahashi-san's RPG games where players will want to focus on playing alone, we didn't want anything that would disrupt that.
So, how exactly do you "loosely connect" online?
If the Wii U console is connected to the Internet, the game will automatically connect online.
In general, other games ask the player if they would like to go online, but for this one, the game will be connected when it starts up, correct?
Right. Each game connects with up to 32 players randomly, including the main player. Most of the time, you will not see other players or what they are doing, even if they're in the same field.
But, you can feel each other's presence faintly in real-time.
Yes. For example, if a player defeats an enemy and gets an item they don't want, they can offer to give that item to another player who is connected with them.
So, that item will be delivered to another player who requests it?
Correct. And sometimes, there are random missions assigned to the 32 players who are connected, such as "Go defeat 10 bugs!" and "Go gather 10 pieces of fruit!"
What should the players who want to focus on their own game do if they receive these missions?
They can just ignore them. But even if they don't participate, they can still see the progress of the mission, like the number of bugs defeated.
So even if some players decide to ignore the mission, they can see that other players are defeating bugs.
Right. And if the mission is completed, a reward goes out to everyone connected.
Um...so even the players that didn't participate in the mission get a reward, too?
Yes, everyone is rewarded.
Well, that's pretty nice. (laughs)
If players clear missions like these, sometimes a special mission like a boss battle is activated. This is the only time when up to four players can actually connect and complete a mission together.
So this is when players could actually see the people they are connected with for the first time.
Right. This is when the avatar you've created is really brought to life.
Most RPGs have been designed for people to play alone, but in Xenoblade Chronicles X, RPG fans can connect loosely while they play their own games. So your challenge is letting these players experience what being loosely connected online is like.
Yes, that's our challenge. Connecting loosely with other players isn't troublesome, but feeling the presence of other players online won't make you lonely. So I hope players won't be afraid to try this feature out.